Textile printing lacquer



PatentedJan. 23, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Atlas Powder Company,corporation of Delaware Wilmington, Del., a

No Drawing. Application June 10, 1938,

Serlal N0. 213,097 V 6 Claims.

This invention relates to printing lacquers for printing textiles, suchas rayon, silk, satin, cotton, and the like, and more particularly tolac-' quers for solid color, contrast printingof tex- 5 tiles by meansof an engraved roll, and to the printed textile.

In the printing of textiles with solid color lacquers, great difficultyhas been encountered with cracking. or dry marking oif of the printedpattern, particularly where the color of the lacquer is in sharpcontrast with the color of the fabric. Cracking or dry marking oiT'isthe tendency of the printing to rub oif, a tendency which is aggravatedwith solid, contrasting colors where the lacquer print should be insuflicient amount to give good coverage, Furthermore, the solid colorlacquers'when applied to textiles have tended to stiffen the printedportion of the fabric so appreciably as to spoil its feel or hand.

An object of the present invention is the pro duction of asolid colorlacquer for printing textiles which overcomes the foregoing dimculties.

Another object of the invention is the production of a textile having asolid color lacquer de- 25 sign printed thereon, the printed portion ofthe textile having a softness of feel or hand of about that of theunprinted portion.

Other objects of the inventionwill hereinafter more fully appear, w 80'I have found that solid printing colors having a solids contentconsisting essentially .of a cellulose derivative comprising at least50% ethyl cellulose, shellac, a straight chain dibaslc acidpolyhydricalcoholresinous reaction product, a

plastieizer, anda pigment, are highly valuable in that. they may be rollprinted on fabrics in quantities sufiicient to cover well, and yetl donot crck'or dry mark oil. The combination of ethyl cellulose, shellacand straight chain dibasic acid-polyhydric alcohol resinous reactionproduct appears to give the solid content of thelacquer the quality ofadhesion to theflber' of the cloth and the plasticity ofthe. .resinemployed,

- Preferably, the ethyl cellulose employed in the printing lacquer ishigh-viscosity ethyl cellulose of viscosity of at least seconds asdetermined 50 by the falling ball method (1' steel ball,

drop) in a 16-ounce (12.2%) solution of ethyl cellulose in 8020'toluene: ethyl alcohol at 25 C. The employment of, ethyl celluloseofless than. 44% 'ethoxy content is highly advantageous, as such ethylcellulose is of low solubility in dry plus the added plasticizer,renders the print highcleaning solvents such as carbon tetrachloride.Where, in addition to ethyl cellulose, another cellulose derivative isemployed, it may be acellulose ether such as benzyl, propyl or amylcellulose, or

a cellulose ester such as the nitrate, acetate, l5 aceto proprionate, oraceto butyrate.

The resinous reaction products employed are the resinous esterificationv products of the straight chain-.dibasic acids, such as adipic,sebacic, azelaic, suberic and pimelic, and poly-10 hydric alcohols, suchas glycerine and the gly'cols. Resins of this type are characterized bytheir plasticity and may be obtained under the trade name Paraplex.

As the plasticizer, there may be employed dibutyl phthalate, diethylphthalate, tricresyl phosphate, and other likeplasticizers which do .notimpart odor to the print.

a It is important that the resinous reaction product and the plasticizerbe employed in an amount suflicient to give the print extreme softnessso that the desired feel or hand of the fabric will not be destroyed.Generally, the resinous reac-' tion product andthe plasticizer are eachpresent in an. amount greater than .the shellac and the resinousreactiom'product is present in an amount greater than the cellulosederivative. Such a print lacquer, if applied to a solid, non-absorptivesurface such assteel, would remain per- 'manently sott and tacky andwould lack adhe-' 80 sion; When applied to textiles, however, the

- print lacquer dries readily and adheres to the fabric, and due to thehigh pla'sticizer content and the-plasticity of the resin employed, theflexibility of thefabric is maintained.

The coloring material employed may be any suitable pigment. Colloidaldispersed pigments .of the desired color have been found toinsure'maximum fastness and best color values and are generally preferred} Bythe term pigmenti I mean to include lakes and toners and to excludesoluble dyestufis which are undesirable for' solid color printinglacquers. v

The solvents in which the solids are carried preferably consist, forexample, of a preponderance of highly volatile, rapidly evaporating,organic solvents, such as toluol, alcohol, ethylacetate, acetone, or ofany othei solvents which have a relatively low boiling point and vaporpressure. Smaller amounts of less volatile, more slowlyevaporable'solvents, such as butyl acetate, xylol, methyl isobutylketone, butyl alcohol, and the like, maybe used along with the morehighlyvolatile solvents with advantage.

A non-limiting example of a printing color lacquer of the presentinvention is as follows:

Per cent by weight Toluidine toner..- 4.75

sec. nitrocotton 3.25 Dibutyl phthalate 5.5

High viscosity ethyl cellulose 4.0

Ethyl acetate *9. 0

In the preparation of the printing lacquer of the foregoing example, thered pigment, sec. nitrocotton and dibutyl phthalate were dispersed in aBanbury machine and thereafter admixed with the other ingredients. Theresulting printing lacquer had a viscosity of about 500 centipoises andgave excellent results in contrast printing on rayon textiles using bothblotch and line patterns. In the printing operation the printing lacquerwas fed directly on to a doctor blade,which applied the lacquer to theengraved portion of an engraved copper roll. By passing the textileabout another roll in rolling contact with the engraved roll, thelacquer was cleanly transferred from the engraved portion of the I rollto the fabric. The fabric, after printing,

was run through a tunnel dryer and after drying, the surface of theprinting was neither soft nor tacky and yet the pattern was highlyflexible and did not materially change the hand or feel of the fabric.

It is to be understood that the foregoing example is merely for purposeof illustrating the invention and is not to be taken as limiting. Thepigment need not be separately dispersed but may be admixed with theother solids in a colloid or other mixing device. The cellulosederivative content may consist entirely of ethyl cellulose or ,thenitrocotton portion may be replaced with other suitable cellulosederivatives, it merely being essential that the cellulose derivativecomprise at least 50% ethyl cellulose. Other plasticizers, resinousreaction products, shellac solutions and solvents may be employed invarying proportions so long as the print dries with the requiredadhesion to the fabric and the desired flexibility. Accordingly, theinvention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing examplebut includes within its purvi w any printing lacquer falling withineither the ms or the spirit of the appended claims.

What I claim is as follows:

1. A printing lacquer for textiles, said lacquer having a solid contentconsisting essentially of cellulose derivative comprising at least 50%by weight of ethyl cellulose, a straight chain dibasic acid-polyhydricalcohol resinous reaction product,

shellac, a plasticizer and a pigment.

2. A printing lacquer for textiles, said lacquer having a solid contentconsisting essentially of cellulose derivative comprising at least 50%by weight of-ethyl cellulose having less than 44% ethoxy content, astraight chain dibasic acidpolyhydric alcohol resinous reaction product,shellac, a plasticizer, and a pigment.

3. A printing lacquer for textiles having a solid content consistingessentially of cellulose derivative comprising at least 50% by weight ofethyl cellulose, a straight chain dibasic acidpolyhydric alcoholresinous reaction product, shellac, a plasticizer and a pigment, saidlacquer being highly plasticized by having the resinous reaction productand the plasticizer each present in an amount greater than the shellacand the resinous reaction product present in an amount greater than thecellulose derivative.

4. A textile having a portion thereof printed with a composition to forma pattern of solid color in contrast with the color of the textile, saidcomposition consisting essentially of cellulose derivative comprising atleast 50% by weight of ethyl cellulose, a straight chain dibasicacid-polyhydric alcohol resinous reaction product, shellac, aplasticizer and a pigment.

5. A textile having a portion thereof printed with a composition to forma pattern of solid color in contrast with the color of the textile, saidcomposition consisting essentially of cellulose derivative comprising atleast 50% by weight of ethyl cellulose having less than 44% ethoxycontent, a straight chain dibasic acid-polyhydric alcohol resinousreaction product, shellac, a plasticizer and a pigment.

6. A textile having a portion thereof printed with a composition to forma pattern of solid color in contrast with the color of the textile, saidcomposition consisting essentially of cellulose derivative comprising atleast 50% by weight of ethyl cellulose, a straight chain dibasicacidpolyhydric alcohol resinous reaction product,

. shellac, a plasticizer and a pigment, said composition having theresinous reaction product and the plasticizer each present in an amountgreater than the shellac and the resinous reaction product a softness offeel or hand of about that of the unprinted portion.

EDMOND H. BUCY.

